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There are certain areas where the BBC is not delivering programming which meets the needs of particular communities

John Whittingdale

He added rulings on complaints by the BBC Trust were "unsatisfactory".

Next Thursday a White Paper on the future of the corporation is expected to be published, with Mr Whittingdale hinting a third party could take control of licence fee funding for local, children's and arts programmes.

He added: "There is a case for having some plurality, so the decision as to what programmes are commissioned isn't exclusively taken by the small group of commissioning editors at the BBC.

"They will still take the overwhelming majority of those decisions, but there are certain areas where the BBC is not delivering programming which meets the needs of particular communities."

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John Whittingdale with Liz Truss

The BBC is said to be furious over suggestions of the "top-slicing" of the licence fee.

Speaking about the BBC's Royal Charter, which is due for renewal - and only comes up every decade - at the end of next year, he joked: "If we don't renew it, it may be that the BBC will cease to exist, which is, occasionally, a tempting prospect."

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John Whittingdale (l) was the first Tory to come out in favour of Brexit

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The BBC has been accused of not being impartial, despite being a public service

Mr Whittingdale, who was the first Tory to come out in favour of Brexit, told students the the BBC he "finds it difficult to take seriously people who have a different view of the world" and "has always regarded people who want to leave Europe as faintly mad".

The upcoming White Paper has caused anger within the BBC as it is expected to contain measures which will reduce the BBC's impact on commercial rivals.